Chapter 6 Sweethearts, Old and New

Brandon was content. Gabriella hadn't said no to his face when he asked her to go on a date with him. She was probably a little shy though, that's why she seemed so nervous when he asked her out. But that only made her more attractive to him and he looked forward to going out with her soon.

Gabriella, meanwhile, was fast asleep in bed, dreaming. All she could see was a big blue ocean. Suddenly, that ocean shrunk into two small almond-shaped eyes – his eyes. She saw them come closer, and closer, until… she blinked in the dark. It had been a dream. She looked at her bedside clock. It was five in the morning. She had the whole day off with no chores and nothing to do with herself. It was what she hated the most – having nothing to do. She yawned and jumped out of bed, feeling her ankle. It was much better. She barely needed the bandage anymore. She showered (for fifteen minutes, lost in thought) and dressed, formulating a schedule as she slid into her jeans. She would go visit her best friend today, then maybe check in on her volunteer club.

"Honeybells! I haven't seen you in forever!" Sassie Ingram, her best friend for years, greeted her from behind the coffee counter where she worked.

"Sass, I visited you two weeks ago." Gabriella rolled her eyes. Her best friend tended to exaggerate.

"That's like three months to me. But it's okay, it looks like you ran into a guy, huh honey?" She tweaked Gabriella's hair. She was like the older sister Gabriella never had. Gabriella reddened.

"What makes you think that?"

"You've got that look, hon. You haven't had that look since Bobby Sheldon from Penn State." Bobby Sheldon had been an incredibly hot guy in college that practically every girl swooned over – even Gabriella herself had once been impressed with him. But that was just a college fad; Bobby had gone off to become a model in Hawaii. That ended that. Gabriella cleared her throat.

"Is it obvious?" she asked.

"No, but you do tend to come to me for dating advice," Sassie said with a sly smile.

"I do not!" Gabriella protested weakly, but she knew it was true. She wasn't the kind to flirt and date even in college, while Sassie was very good at getting a new date every Saturday. Gabriella was the one to come away with honors; Sassie graduated with an engagement ring.

"Anyway, how have you been? Is Phil okay? And Teddy?" she asked her friend.

"Phil and I are fine, Gabby, and Teddy just started kindergarten," Sassie said, keenly aware that Gabriella was trying to steer off the subject. "Now tell me about your crush." They sat down at a coffee table.

"It's not a crush; I don't know what it is."

"Do you like him?"

"You mean if I like the fact that he smeared me with a hotdog, replaced the dress with one that cost a couple of months' salary, then took me to dinner, saved my life from drowning, and took me on a date the next day, then yeah, sure." Sassie blinked.

"Honey, you have a way more adventurous life now than when you were in college."

"I know! I don't even know how I ended up in this situation." Gabriella said, clutching her head. Sassie studied her.

"Does he seem into you?" she asked.

"I think so. He wouldn't have asked me out on a second date if he wasn't. Although I'm surprised he'd want to date me after the fuss I kicked up –" Sassie cut her short.

"You already went on a first date?! And you tell me now?! Gabby, I'm appalled." She fake pouted, sticking her lip out. Gabriella laughed and plunged into a recount of her date.

"He's in your mind, huh? Well, honey Gabby, you just had a first date, what you're experiencing is infatuation. It's common for most first dates."

"But I don't even know if I like him."

"Let love take its time. It's like a plant. You wait for it to grow, give it a little light, a little water, and bang! You'll have a rose garden in no time. Don't jump into it all at once, and Gabby?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't do anything you'll regret, okay?" Sassie gave her a concerned look. Gabriella smiled reassuringly.

"You know me better than that."

Gabriella didn't write on paper anymore. Although she liked to, she preferred to go green since global warming and paper waste always made her turn to the computer. So she typed down her feelings instead, saving them as a letter. It was the same thing as writing a diary – a digital one. She did some unnecessary laundry, cooked enough food for two days, then washed her hair. After lunch, she became restless. She decided to go do some volunteer work at the local community center. She loved working there on her days off; she found the place shortly after moving to New York and got so attached to it she made it her favorite stop-by. She loved working with kids.

"Hey, busy bees! What have you been up to?" Gabriella asked the children as soon as she arrived at the center.

"We have a fundraiser next week, so we're all growing our own vegetables so we can sell them. Come see, Gabriella!" Barbara, one of the fifth graders said, pulling her to the patches.

"Wow, you guys have gone creative! Horseradish, parsnip, strawberries, even herbs! You guys are pretty apt to win if I were a judge."

"The older kids are raising money for a food drive for underprivileged families. There's Austin, he's in charge of that." Barbara whistled to get his attention. He turned and came over to Gabriella. He was a tall youth, brown-haired and blue-eyed. He smiled as he shook hands with Gabriella.

"Hi, Gabriella. We've been wondering if you'd come. Wanna see our work?"

"Sure." She followed him around, taking in all the hard work the kids were doing.

"It's been pretty quiet lately; a lot of people seem too busy to do charity work anymore. So we thought we'd raise the money ourselves by putting on a fundraiser so we could do the work without a bunch of fussy adults."

"Hey! I resemble that remark, you know." Gabriella chided him playfully. Austin grinned.

"Hailey and I only have the summer to do as much as we can, then it's off to college. We're trying to see if we can spread the charity work there too."

"Aw, we'll miss you guys and the rest of your batch. It was hard finding teens who like to work hard."

"I know. Hailey is our treasurer and administrator and she has her hands full running and organizing everything. She's starting to burn out."

"Maybe I can help. That's why I'm here after all."

"Cool. Hey, Hayls."

"Hey, babe. I just got a couple of checks from… oh! Gabriella! Long time no see. You here to help out? We could really use you." Hailey Denver, a sweet-faced girl with pink cheeks smiled at Gabriella.

"No problem. I'll take over the auditing. You take a break. You look like you could use it."

"Really? Thanks! I've been dying to rest my aching feet. Oh Austin, could you make sure the hall is set up for the show this Saturday?"

"No problem, I'm on it," Austin said and walked off. Hailey turned to Gabriella.

"The kids are putting on a musical show this Saturday to help with the fundraising – in addition to the veggie garden sales," she explained.

"That's great! It's so good to see young people take the initiative. You go take a break, I'll handle everything from here." Gabriella patted her back as she left.

Gabriella got to work, going through the accounts of the money raised so far, adding the checks, and checking how much was still needed. The teenagers had done well so far. They made four thousand three hundred dollars. But their target was ten thousand. They sure wanted to help a lot of kids.

At six thirty Gabriella closed up and decided to go home. One of the other seniors, a girl called Sylvia, came up to her.

"Hi, Gabriella. Did you come to help out?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I don't think I could do much. You kids have everything under control."

"Yeah, but we're low on actual donations. Steve thinks it's because we don't have enough publicity."

"What about the website?"

"Sure, that's going strong thanks to our volunteer marketing team. But it only attracts young people, people who don't really have that much to give. We can't get the working class to take notice."

"What about flyers?"

"We did print those, but our parents don't want us running all over the entire city and we have a curfew. We haven't been able to cover as much ground as we like."

"I can do it. I take the bus all over the city and, no curfew," Gabriella offered.

"Really? Awesome! Wait here, I'll get you some flyers." Sylvia went into the open tent nearby. She returned with an armful of flyers.

"Wow, these are neat!" Gabriella said, taking them.

"The kids helped design them. Think you can handle it?"

"No problem. I'll see you later then."

"Bye Gabriella!" Sylvia waved goodbye as Gabriella left and headed for the bus stop. She started putting them up just as the bus came. She got in and rode off. She stuck the flyers at many bus stops in the city. When she was down to the last dozen, she decided to head home. It was as she put up the last poster at the bus stop before her apartment that a voice called out her name.

"Gabriella Keller! If it ain't the last person I thought I'd catch in New York!" Gabriella turned quickly to see the owner of the voice and her eyes widened.

"Archer Steele?" Archer Steele, a guy from high school with whom she had less than friendly feelings. Gabriella felt shocked; what was he doing all the way in New York?! Last she heard he was supposed to be in Kansas!

"I'm flattered, you remember me. So what have you been doing these last few years? You look great, by the way," he said with a smug smile. Gabriella tried to smile but felt nervous.

"You know, college, work… making a living," she said, vaguely. She didn't want to let him know anything more.

"Aw shucks, come on sweetheart. Don't tell me you're still a wallflower." Archer pouted, drawing nearer.

"Really, there's not much going on for me." Gabriella averted her eyes, backing away a step.

"You still like charity work, I see." He said, eyeing the poster in her hand. "You always were the angel around town." Archer looked wistfully at her.

"Yes, I help out sometimes." She looked up and down the road for her bus, wanting to leave quickly before things got too comfortable. Archer noticed and narrowed his eyes.

"You seem antsy. Going to meet a boyfriend?"

"No… I mean yes! I mean not now, I gotta get home early, that's all. Work and all…"

"I see. You seem to be doing well here in the city. Did you know I'd taken up residence in New York too?"

"Oh?" Gabriella didn't like the sound of that.

"Yeah, I work the night shift," Archer said.

"Really? Where?" Gabriella hoped she didn't look too interested as she was just making polite conversation.

"At the Vaux Club. I own it." Gabriella stared at him. She didn't like nightclubs and she knew that Vaux Club wasn't the kind of place someone like her would go to. Her mother would have a fit if she knew.

"I see." She replied slowly.

"So where do you work?" he asked, oblivious to her reaction. But she didn't reply as she saw the bus drawing near.

"Oh, I gotta go, that's my bus."

"Hold on, sweetheart, you free tomorrow night?" Archer put on his wheedling voice – she knew it well, he wouldn't leave her alone till he got an answer. She didn't want to tell the truth, but she knew no good ever comes from lies.

"Um, I'm not sure… I might be busy."

"Aw come on Brie. Let's at least get some dinner, for old times' sake? I mean we did date." Gabriella sighed. He brought it up. There was no escaping the fact now.

"Well… I guess…"

"Great! I'll pick you up at seven. Where do you live?" She climbed on the bus quickly.

"64 Perch St. But maybe I should join you –" she protested feebly.

"That's fine, sweetheart. I'll pick you up. Oh, and Gabriella? I'm so thrilled we met again." Archer winked in a way that made her skin crawl. She thankfully got on the bus just as it began to rumble away.

Gabriella leaned back against the seat inside. She shut her eyes feeling uneasy. She wasn't glad to see Archer, not one bit! He was her ex from high school and she regretted ever dating him. College in Pennsylvania was her only escape from his constant fawning and calling her 'sweetheart'. She despised the way he called her that. She shuddered. It was just one dinner. How bad could it be? Maybe after that, he would leave her alone. She didn't want this reunion to lead to anything else.

Archer had been one of the town's flirts back home. He'd broken hearts left, right and center, what with his long black hair curling over a pale forehead and violet eyes – the ideal type. But he had a particular fetish for Gabriella, for she had been one of the few who didn't worship the ground he walked on. As it was, he asked her out, they dated, and she dumped him and moved away to Penn State when she found out he was no better than a stalker. And now he was in the same city as her.

She sighed. Why did he have to move here? And own a nightclub of all things? Knowing Archer, the place was probably as morally questionable as its owner… how'd he even afford to buy a nightclub? She remembered that his father had been fairly well-off as a banker, so that could be it. But why move to New York of all places?! Was there no other city in the world?!

If only she could get out of the date, she didn't know what possessed her to tell him her address. Now he'd show up and she'd be forced to go out with him! Knowing his persistence, he could pull a nun out of a convent! She rubbed her forehead thoughtfully. If only she could cancel it with a little help...

The next evening, Brandon made his way to a café, wondering if Gabriella was too health-conscious for some desserts. He bought some carrot cake and almond brownies, deciding against the doughnuts. He drove to her apartment, hoping she was home. He came up and rang her bell. She cautiously opened the door an inch before throwing it open when she saw him. He held the bag of desserts up.

"Hi! I brought you something." he smiled at her.

"Brandon! Oh, am I glad to see you." She caught hold of his wrist and pulled him in. Surprised but pleased at her eagerness, he grinned.

"Really, so soon? I guess I made an impression on you."

"Oh stop. I mean it, but not in that way. You see, I need your help." She looked unnerved.

"Go on." Brandon encouraged her when he saw her wring her hands.

"You never gave me your phone number." She said suddenly.

"That's what this is all about? Here," he took her phone from her hand and unlocked it.

"You should really put a password on this thing you know." He entered his number and saved it.

"There, problem solved."

"That's not the problem. Are you free tonight?"

"Why? You wanna do our second date already? Wow, you move fast. I like it." Brandon grinned, his mood improving by the minute.

"No, actually I'm trying to get out of one! I'm in a mess…" She sighed, sinking onto the couch, and burying her head in her hands. Brandon joined her, wondering what got her so upset.

"Hey, whatever's going on, maybe I can help." He said gently. Gabriella took a deep breath.

There's a guy I used to date in school. He showed up at the bus stop yesterday. He wanted to meet up for dinner, but I know he's trying to get back with me and he won't take no for an answer. He'll know any excuse I make is fake and he's so obsessive!" She stood up and began to pace the room stressfully.

"Did you tell him you had a boyfriend?" Brandon asked.

"Yes and no, I kind of conveyed the impression but… I don't think he took the hint."

"Well, since we're dating, it's not a big deal. I can just explain it to him when he shows up." Brandon said simply.

"He'll never believe that."

"Then what do you want me to do?"

"I need you to be all… um, boy-friendly. If he sees I really am dating someone else, there's a chance he'll leave me alone." Brandon smiled at her made-up word.

"Boy-friendly? Cute. Why did you agree to dinner in the first place?"

"I didn't, he's just really persistent!" Gabriella looked frantic.

"Hmm." Brandon pondered the situation.

"So you'll do it?"

"Sure, I'll do it. I'll be the most romantic and fierce boyfriend you ever had. And if any exes come knocking on your door, they better beware." he raised his head confidently.

"Thank you!" Gabriella looked so relieved it made Brandon wonder exactly how bad this ex was.

"Okay, then. Let's practice shall we?"

He pulled her by the arm to the couch and seated her next to him. He slipped his arm around her shoulder and turned to her. Gabriella reddened, unused to masculine proximity.

"Is this convincing enough?" Brandon asked. she gulped.

"Okay okay, not now, you've got two hours before the act," she said, sidling a little way from him.

"Then have some cake. It's got veggies in it." He opened the paper box and handed her a plastic fork. She dug a small piece and popped it into her mouth.

"You can do better than that," he commented. She took a bigger chunk of the cake.

"Hmm. It's good."

"You like it?"

"Yeah. Carrot cake is actually my favorite dessert."

"Seriously? Perfect! I gained some BF points already." Brandon looked pleased.

"What is this, a competition?"

"Sure. You can earn GF points too."

"Only if you don't use abbreviations."

"Fine, GIRL-friend points." She giggled.

"That's funny."

"So what do we do for two hours?"

"Um, want to watch a movie?"

"Sure. What do you have in mind?"

"I mostly have… why don't you tell me what you're into?"

"How about a romance?" Gabriella blushed at his suggestion.

"Okay, but don't get any funny ideas."

"I wasn't thinking about anything at all." He said smugly, making her blush hard as she realized she had forbidden thoughts ahead of him. Gabriella put the DVD in and went and sat beside him. He tried to pull her close but she objected.

"Why not? We are dating."

"For three days! Maybe in a month, I'll let you do that."

"We're gonna act for your ex anyway."

"That's acting."

"But we are dating for real. Wait, did you say I could put my arm around you in a month? So can we date that long?" she bit her lip. She didn't mean to imply that. She wasn't even sure she knew whether she wanted it to continue till then.

"Yeah, I mean, what's the point of dating and being in a relationship if you don't try to make it last?"

"You're absolutely right. And I'm glad. It means we can do a lot of things together."

"Right." She took the remote and pressed play. He tried to put his arm around her again.

"Nice try," she said, pushing it off. He stretched and put his hands behind his head, supporting it with his palms.

"You know, you're way more complicated than I thought," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't mind dating me, someone you met just a couple of days ago, but you wanna ward off your ex whom you've known for many years?"

"Believe it or not, he's not as well-mannered as you. And that's saying something, considering the way we met," Gabriella said with a sly look.

"This guy must really get under your skin."

"No, you get under my skin, he makes my skin crawl," Gabriella admitted with a little smile. Brandon stared at her.

"What?" she asked.

"How come you're so open with me all of a sudden?"

"You're… actually kind of easy to talk to," Gabriella said after a moment.

"Is that a compliment?" Brandon raised his eyebrows. Gabriella turned to watch the TV, biting her lip. It was a compliment, but how could she admit that without sacrificing her pride?

"Don't do that." Brandon pulled her lip out of her teeth again. "You sure have an addiction to doing that."

"I only do it when I'm nervous."

"Are you nervous around me?" he asked, suddenly turning her face to his with his palm. She met his eyes, reminded of the dream she had.

"Gabriella?" he asked when she didn't answer. She inhaled quickly.

"The movie's starting." She hastily changed the subject.

The movie was a sweet country romance. The soft background music made her close her eyes. Brandon saw her eyes closed and took the chance to come closer to her. He quietly laid his head on her shoulder. Her eyes flew open.

"What –"

"I like to watch movies this way." Staying very still, she let out a breath.

"You can lean on me too, you know. You don't have to wait for a month to pass." She gingerly put her head on his. He suddenly shifted his position and pulled her onto his chest, making her head lean against him, his head against the back of the sofa. She gasped.

"Relax." He said, wrapping his hands around her waist. Her heart was racing and her breath was forced. She tried to calm herself. She couldn't let him feel her pulse, especially since she was leaning on him. They watched for a while in that position, then Gabriella found herself getting sleepy. Brandon's chest was far more comfortable than she anticipated. She tried to keep her eyes open but couldn't. I mustn't fall asleep, she thought. But halfway through the movie, she dozed off. Brandon sensed her even breathing and lack of movement. He craned his neck forward to check if she really was asleep. She didn't stir.

"Gabriella?" he called softly. No answer. Finding her face more interesting to watch than the movie, he stroked her hair slowly. He wondered what it would be like to do this every day, to have her in his arms like this, utterly relaxed and peaceful.

"I know you don't love me like that yet," he whispered. "But maybe, with time…" He sighed.

"You may not know it but… for me it was love at first sight." He moved his finger to stroke her cheek. "I didn't even know if I believed in stuff like that. How did we ever come together like this? Fate? Coincidence?" he brushed her eyelid.

"I wonder… when will I be able to kiss you?" he lightly touched her lips. They were still moist from her tongue. He wiped it with his thumb, continuing to watch her, his fascination with her far more than the movie.